


Have This Dance

by shewasjustagirl



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: High School, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Origin Story, Secret Crush, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 11:43:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11577399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasjustagirl/pseuds/shewasjustagirl
Summary: At the Spring Fling Dance, Rhett and Link sneak away from the crowd and from their dates.





	Have This Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theaveragebear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theaveragebear/gifts).



> Written as a gift for [theaveragebear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theaveragebear/pseuds/theaveragebear) for my 100 follower giveaway. You can also find her on [Tumblr](https://the-average-bear.tumblr.com/).
> 
> She gave me the prompt "secret slow dancing at a school dance." I hope you like it! I loved the prompt.

Under a banner exclaiming “Spring Fling 1995!”, a crowd formed in a circle around Rhett. He was busting a move, creating his own dance, and Link stood with Sarah and Valerie, their dates, watching the show, cheering on his best friend. 

Sarah teased her fingertips up Link’s arm, and he cringed and gulped, his heart fluttering. With as much courage as he could muster, he smiled down at her, hoping she missed his first reaction, and slipped his arm around her waist. 

Valerie’s eyes were locked on Rhett, contemplating her luck that he and Link, both juniors, had invited freshmen to the Spring Fling dance. While Rhett had Valerie distracted, Sarah turned and leaned into Link, wrapping her arms around his body under his suit jacket. Link swallowed again, praying he could keep down the shrimp he’d eaten as they walked into the gym. 

When the music stopped and the next song began playing, Rhett, beads of sweat clinging to his closely-trimmed hair, strode back toward the three, and they clapped as he took a bow. “Well that was fun!” he laughed. Winking at Link when he noticed Sarah clinging to his side, Rhett took Valerie’s hand and began pulling her, and with her the other couple, toward the dance floor. Link caught Sarah’s hazel eyes and flushed as she beamed up at him with glossy pink lips. 

Before Rhett could get them all back to dancing, Link interjected. “Uh, hey Rhett, you wanna go get some drinks?”

“Sure! I’m thirsty. We’ll be right back, ladies.” He turned and cast a smile at their dates before putting his arm around Link’s shoulders and leading them from the dance floor.

The girls turned to move toward the outer edges of the dancing students, chatting as they walked about the process Valerie had gone through to order her dress and hem it herself. 

Rhett led the way to the back of the room, good naturedly jostling Link as he mentioned the way Sarah had been eyeing him. Link didn’t respond, his heart racing as the chatter and music in the room turned into a roaring hum in his ears. When they reached the long table holding the refreshments, Rhett’s voice finally broke through the fog in Link’s mind. 

“Hey. Link. What’s up, man? You look like you’re freaking out.” Rhett set down the plate he had begun to fill with finger foods and returned one hand to Link’s shoulder.

Link shook his arm away. “I’m not freaking out. I just needed a break is all.” 

Rhett didn’t buy his explanation for a second. Link’s hands were shaking, the punch falling back into the bowl or sloshing onto the table each time he held the dipper up to the small plastic cup. 

Rhett looked over his shoulder and spotted their dates, who were facing away from them toward the dance floor, sitting at the table where they’d dropped their purses earlier. The girls were each other’s best friends, and they talked excitedly, pointing at decorations and smiling as other students passed them in their own dresses and rented suits. Rhett and Link wouldn’t be missed if they were gone for a few minutes.

“Come on, let’s go outside.” Rhett grabbed Link’s wrist and took the plastic cup from him, tossing it in a trash can as they broke through the gym’s doors and into the night air. 

 

It quickly became apparent that they weren’t the only students with the idea to step outside. Two couples were pressed up against the school’s brick exterior, making out in the shadows cast by the orange safety lights surrounding the building. Another group was sitting in the parking lot in the bed of a truck, smoking cigarettes and passing around what Rhett could only assume was a bottle of whiskey lifted from someone’s parents.

He was trying to get Link some fresh air, but this type wasn’t any better than being inside the gym. Rhett nodded for Link to follow him around the side of the building, and he led them to another door leading to the boys’ locker room. When the heavy door slammed itself shut, a loud, hollow sound rang out around them, but the room was blessedly empty. The song that had begun playing as they left the dance floor ended and the next began, dimmed by the hollow room and the two walls separating it from the DJ. Rhett couldn’t name the tune, but he recognized it as an upbeat pop song he’d heard during his childhood.

In the center of the room was a space for team meetings, and Rhett led them to sit on a bench there. “Okay, brother, what’s up? This isn’t the first time you’ve been to a dance.”

“I know, but --”

“But you just really like Sarah?” Rhett offered.

Link kicked his toe at the bolts grounding the built-in bench, his eyes trained on the floor. “I mean, yeah. I don’t even know her that well, but she’s really pretty and she agreed to come to the dance with me and now it seems like maybe she likes me and I don’t know what to do...”

Rhett grinned as Link went on, finally cutting him off after he spent a minute repeating himself. “Link, listen. That’s just the gym in there.”

“Well I know that.”

Rhett nudged Link’s shoulder. “Look at me. I know what I’m talking about. That basketball court is my domain. I run that place.”

Link huffed out a low chuckle and rolled his eyes, unable to resist smiling up at Rhett. “Uh huh. And how does that help me?”

“Here, give me your hands.”

“What?”

Rhett held out his hands and stood. “Trust me. The court is mine, remember? I’m going to coach you.”

Link placed his hands in Rhett’s and inhaled a soothing breath as the warmth and self-assurance in his friend’s fingers transferred into him, settling in his chest as he stood facing his friend. Gently, Rhett guided Link’s hands to his own hips. Then he caught Link’s eyes and raised his hands, palms out as a gesture of good faith.

“We’re going to get you all practiced up so you can chill a little bit in there. Think of it like preparing for the big game, okay?”

Link nodded slowly and watched as Rhett moved his arms around Link’s neck, threading his fingers together and bending his elbows to bring their bodies a few inches closer together.

Rhett chuckled. “Height-wise, this configuration is kinda off, and this music’s not cooperating, but we’ll make it work.”

The boys began to sway, Rhett encouraging Link to lead as the final minute of the upbeat song played. They made their way in a circle around the bench, finding themselves on its other side as the music faded out. In the empty space, the boys hesitated. Rhett began to remove his arms from Link’s neck, but bony fingers dug into his hips until he stood still. 

A familiar tune and then a velvety tenor voice came over the speakers and filtered into the locker room. Link started swaying again as Luther Vandross crooned _My love, there’s only you in my life, the only thing that’s right._

When Mariah Carey joined the duet, Rhett began singing in falsetto. “My first love, you’re every breath that I take, you’re every step I make.” 

Link’s eyes snapped up to meet Rhett’s. “Oh lord, you’re gonna sing?” 

“Embrace it, Linkster. I’m trying to help you get the girl,” Rhett smirked, tickling at Link’s hair. “And your eyes…” he continued, smiling down into blue ones as Link took a quick breath and chimed in.

“Your eyes, your eyes.” 

“They tell me how much you care,” the boys harmonized. “Yes, you will always be my endless love.” 

“We’re not half bad singers, you know,” Rhett grinned, speaking quietly into Link’s ear as they moved closer, Link resting his head on Rhett’s chest and Rhett pressing his cheek to Link’s temple.

“Not too bad. Nothing will ever top the Lionel Richie version, though,” Link muttered. 

Rhett rested the crook of each of his elbows on Link’s shoulders, one hand falling down his back and the other just brushing the hair at the nape of his neck. “You’re probably right.”

“Hey Rhett?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are we whispering?”

Rhett laughed quietly, his chest bouncing against Link’s head and the warm sound reverberating in his ears. “I don’t know, buddy. Just quiet in here.”

The boys moved slowly, the room going quiet again as the duet continued around them. Rhett broke in occasionally with snippets of the song, humming some of it, “...I'll be a fool for you...mhmm...you mean the world to me...” The sound from his throat and chest filled Link as the boys made their way slowly around the bench again. 

As the song faded to an end, Rhett pulled away enough to see his friend’s face, returning his interlaced fingers to Link’s neck. “You know what to do if she’s looking at your lips, right?” Rhett demonstrated, alternately glancing down at Link’s lips and returning his gaze to his eyes.

Link nodded again, his eyes lingering for a moment on the way Rhett was looking at him. With one hand, he reached up, his fingers cupping Rhett’s jaw. 

For the first time all night, Rhett seemed to lose control of his cool facade, inhaling sharply when Link stepped closer again. 

“That’s right,” Rhett breathed, trailing his right hand down Link’s chest, settling it under his suit jacket and over his heart, giving a gentle push. He closed his eyes as he felt for Link’s heartbeat. His pulse had calmed and his hands had stopped shaking. Rhett opened his eyes and dropped his hands to his side, returning to himself as he took a half-step backward. “You think you're alright now?”

With a small shake of his head, Link removed his hands from Rhett’s face and hip. “Yeah, I'm ready,” Link returned his eyes to the floor and pressed his hands into his pockets. “Thanks again, man.”

Rhett was a few steps ahead of Link now, standing with his hand on the locker room door. “You never thanked me before.”

“Well thank you twice, then,” Link smiled sheepishly, his cheeks pink as he kicked down at the protruding bolts again and headed toward the door, stopping short to straighten his tie and then Rhett’s. “Come on. The girls are going to think we ditched them.”

 

After another hour went by, the DJ announced, “The night’s almost over. Grab someone special for this last song, kids.” The first few notes of Boyz II Men’s ‘I’ll Make Love To You’ began and the couples paired up one final time. 

Sarah pouted as she wrapped her arms around Link’s neck. “I can’t believe it’s already over.” 

“It was fun, though,” Link’s hands were steady as he placed them on her hips. “Don’t you think?”

“It was,” she smiled, teasing her fingers into Link’s hair. 

Panic rose in his chest again, and Link sought out Rhett. Even with adult chaperones around, Rhett was always the tallest person in the room, always easy to spot, but Link couldn’t find him. With stilted, overly aggressive movements, he rotated Sarah around until they had switched positions in their space on the dance floor. 

Sarah laughed and told Link to settle down as she placed one palm on his neck, gently testing her thumb at his sideburns. Link pulled her closer, pressing their bodies as close as he dared in order to seek out his friend again. 

When Link’s eyes landed on Rhett, he found that the other boy was already peering at him intently, Valerie’s arms wrapped around his waist and her cheek resting on his chest. 

In the middle of the dance floor, without speaking a word, Rhett began a conversation with his oldest friend.

 _You okay over there?_ asked a slight movement of Rhett’s head asked.  
_Yeah, I’m alright._ Link’s lips twisted up, his pulse settling again.  
_You gonna kiss her?_ Rhett’s lifted eyebrow pushed.  
_I don’t know, should I?_ Link’s eyes went wide, his eyebrows jerking together as he glanced down at girl in his arms and looked back up at Rhett.  
_Definitely. I’m going to do it, too. Come on._ Rhett’s nod responded.

Link found himself mimicking Rhett, a delayed mirror from across the room as he tilted Sarah’s face up to him, tucked her hair behind her left ear, and pressed his eyes closed as their lips met in the space between them. 

When Link opened his eyes again, Sarah and Rhett were both staring at him. He tore his eyes away from his friend to smile down at Sarah and spin her around as the music ended and the gym’s overhead lights hummed to life. She settled back in his arms as Rhett and Valerie began walking toward them.

Quickly, Link muttered, “I know you rode over with Valerie, but do you think her folks would mind if I dropped you back at home? I have something I want to talk to you about.” 

Sarah agreed without asking any questions, turning to see her friend approaching. “Hey guys, did y’all have fun?” She didn’t wait for an answer, other than the nods of the others, before continuing, “Link’s taking me home. See ya later, Val, call me!”

Rhett took Valerie’s hand, a wistful smile crossing his face as Link looked up at him. “Y’all have fun.”

“I’m still coming over later, Rhett,” Link called over his shoulder as Sarah led them from the gym. “I’ll meet you there.”

As the other couple stepped outside, Valerie pulled on Rhett’s hand. “Did you see that? I don’t think Link was wearing lip gloss when the song started,” she laughed. 

 

A set of bright headlights cut through the midnight fog as Link’s truck arrived in Rhett’s driveway. When Rhett saw them he bounded up the stairs, waiting just outside his bedroom for Link to knock on the front door. In basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and socks, Rhett leaned against the wall at the top of the stairs, his suit hanging neatly from a hook on his closet door. He had been home from the dance for nearly an hour, and he would have fallen asleep if not for his anticipation of Link’s arrival and, after all this time, of his story about driving Sarah home. 

Link knocked on the door and peeked his head inside, calling out for Rhett in a whisper. 

“Come on up, man!” Rhett responded, even as he hopped down the stairs. “You need me to carry anything?”

When he saw Link, he stopped short. The boy was still wearing his suit from the dance, and he wasn’t holding the small duffel bag he normally brought when he stayed over at Rhett’s house. 

“Come outside for a minute. Your parents are asleep, right?”

Rhett nodded, slipping through the front door behind Link and carefully shutting it, ensuring it made no more noise than necessary. “What’s up, man?” he asked when they were standing behind Link’s truck, the only light on them coming from the moon and from the outer reaches of the porch lamp. “Why are you still in your suit?”

“I came straight over here from Sarah’s,” Link said, his hands shaking as Rhett looked down on him. 

“You nervous just to talk about it, man?” 

“Yeah, something like that,” Link smiled. “Can we…” he reached his arms around Rhett’s neck. “This helped earlier.”

Rhett moved his hands to Link’s hips, but replied, “There’s no music, dude.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just talk to me,” Link grinned. “So, I came straight here from Sarah’s, and…Rhett, why did you want to help me with her?”

Rhett cocked his head to the side in question. “Because I'm your best friend, man. You like her, don't you?”

“Well, yeah. Do you?”

Rhett hesitated for a beat before responding. “Do I like Sarah? She's fine. Why are you holding out on me like this? How did it go with her?”

Link turned his head for a moment, looking over Rhett’s shoulder to the McLaughlins’ home, and Rhett caught a glimpse of a sticky pink lip print on Link’s face. “Oh, I guess it went well,” he chuckled, dropping his hands from Link’s hips and taking a step back. 

Link’s eyebrows furrowed in question and Rhett gestured toward his own cheek. When Link understood he pawed at his face, wiping away the lip gloss Sarah left there. “No, that’s--” He sighed. “It’s probably not what you think. Did you have a good time with Valerie?” 

“Dude seriously? You saw the entire date I had with Valerie. Her parents drove her home maybe ten minutes after you left.”

“So is that a yes? You kissed her.” Link hopped up on the tailgate of his truck, sitting facing Rhett, who stood with his hands on his hips. 

“It was one kiss. You know I asked Valerie to the dance because you were going with Sarah, Link.” Rhett stared into his friend, looking for some answers for his behavior. “Why aren’t you telling me what happened, man? Did you two like, get really serious or something?”

A laugh burst from Link and he rushed to cover his mouth. “Sort of yes, and definitely not,” he replied when he’d composed himself. Link slid off the tailgate and stood just a step in front of Rhett, taking a deep breath as he continued.

“I just don’t want you breaking Valerie’s heart or anything like that,” Link said quietly. “Not because of me. She and Sarah are actually really nice, I think.” He took another step, returning his hands to Rhett’s neck and carefully brushing his fingertips against the place where a bristly buzzcut began. 

“What are you doing? We don’t need to dance anymore, Link,” Rhett pressed his hands into Link’s chest, intending to push him away, but found that the heart under his hands was working overtime, pounding against his palm.

Link bit his lip and looked up to Rhett’s before he closed his eyes and whispered, “Please don't let me stand here looking like an idiot. I need you to say something.”

“What do you want me to say?” Rhett’s pulse caught up to Link’s as he waited for the response, searching his face for answers. 

When Link finally looked up again, his eyes were watery and his skin white, bright red splotches on his ears and the apples of his cheeks fighting for dominance of his features. “Say you’re not about to hit me or something, at least? That I’m not imagining things?”

Rhett took a step forward, pushing Link along with him. Rhett’s eyes in the shadows were dark and intense, and his voice was low, with just a hint of playfulness in it. “Imagining things?”

“Yeah.”

“What things?” Rhett smirked as he took another step. 

“Maybe I’m making stuff up, but I just talked about it with Sarah and she said I’m not and I should talk to you about it and --” 

“Link,” Rhett took another step, and Link’s legs collided with the tailgate of his truck. “What things have you been imagining?”

Link gulped. Rhett had moved his hands back down to his waist, his fingers digging in a little at his sides. “I was thinking about the locker room. How maybe we just should have stayed in there. How it seemed like you…”

“Like I only wanted to dance with you?” Rhett asked quietly, tightening his grip on Link’s waist. “You weren’t imagining that.”

“I wasn’t!” Link exclaimed, his rushing blood and overextended nerves finally getting some relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I’m not crazy.”

Rhett stood shakily, his stomach sinking at Link’s reaction. “Is that all? You wanted to tell me you know? And that Sarah noticed?” He took a step back and then another, finally pushing himself away from Link. “Is that why you didn’t bring a bag?” Rhett’s brow furrowed down, tears welling up in his eyes and threatening to brim over. He covered his face with his hands, mumbling, “You don’t owe me anything. But please don’t go telling everyone.” 

“No! Rhett, gosh. No. I asked Sarah if she thought you’d want me to do this,” Link closed the gap between them once more, pulling Rhett’s hands away and standing on his toes as he reached for his face. The taller boy stooped to meet him, wrapping his long arms around Link’s waist as their lips met. 

Rhett pulled away from the kiss, leaning his head onto Link’s shoulder and hugging him tightly as a few tears fell onto his suit coat. “I thought you were telling me ‘bye. I’ve tried to be a good friend, Link, I swear.”

The hand on Rhett’s neck and across his back attempted to calm him, and Link hushed him, whispering in his ear. “Shhh, Rhett, you’re the best friend ever. I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out what to say. I just, I wasn’t sure if you really wanted...if I could kiss you.”

“I guess I’m a pretty good actor then,” Rhett chuckled through his tears.

Link encouraged Rhett to stand and moved them back over to the truck’s tailgate, sitting Rhett on it and wiping at his tear-streaked cheeks with his thumbs. “Are you okay, bo? I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I just couldn’t wait to get over here, that’s all.”

Rhett smiled, sniffling away the last of his tears and sucking in a breath. “I’m okay.” He wrapped his hands around Link’s waist, pulling him between his splayed legs. “Kiss me again. Please.”

“Gladly,” Link smiled, cupping Rhett’s jaw as he pulled their faces back together. He kissed Rhett’s upturned lips and laughed, blowing air out against his mouth as Rhett’s fingers found Link’s and laced them together. 

“What’s so funny?” Rhett tightened his hold on Link with one arm, pulling him closer as he pressed a kiss to Link’s cheek and then to his knuckles. 

“I’m just excited is all,” Link laughed again, taking Rhett’s mouth back in his, testing his tongue against Rhett’s lips and moving his hand back around his neck, pushing their bodies together. That was all the invitation Rhett needed, and he licked into Link’s parted lips, sliding his hand up under his jacket. 

Soon they were forced to pull away from one another, Link’s dress shirt untucked and Rhett’s t-shirt crumpled, their lips pink and their lungs desperate for air. Rhett unhooked his legs where he’d crossed them behind Link, slid off the back of the truck, and closed the tailgate before taking Link’s hand again. 

Link yawned as they walked up to the house, the late hour finally hitting him. “It got late, huh?”

“Mhmm. Too late to go home now. I’ll give you some clothes to change into,” Rhett smiled, his eyes sparkling as he took in the sight of Link under the porch light. “If you promise I’m not already dreaming.”

**Author's Note:**

> The Luther Vandross/Mariah Carey version of Endless Love was one of the top songs of 1994. I couldn't help myself once I learned that.
> 
>  
> 
> I'd love any feedback! Your comments and kudos are very much appreciated! <3
> 
> And come find me on Tumblr as [clemwasjustagirl](http://clemwasjustagirl.tumblr.com/) if you're into that kind of thing.


End file.
